Tips from the Frontline

[RNL Tiger]

New plan needed

Over the last few moves I have maintained radio silence, whilst trying to manoeuvre the Tigers into the rear. Given that the second tank fight was all but finished it seemed sensible to ask a few questions related to previous moves:
1) Why did you drop those T-34/85 onto the road and then backed down into the valley? As opposed to going straight into the valley?
“Reversing them was quicker than making them pivot and move”
2) Did you see my tigers and knew that they were coming - it looked like you did as you lined up the famous POS stack?
“Yes I saw the Tigs all the way, one of my units somewhere must have spotted them, maybe a loose T-34 crew on foot..”

3) I had hoped that my infantry would open up on the tank to distract it but neither the infantry nor the HMG fired i.e. distraction failed miserably
“Infantry and MG's are sometimes scared to fire at tanks at long range in case the tank shoots back”

4) Originally, why did you send the tank platoon around the right? As a flanking manoeuvre?
“If you mean the 3 T-34's that were killed early on, I was going to position them to fire across the open ground in front of the flag in case you inf tried to cross it”

5) Given you knew you were still facing three tigers and STUGs what was your armour plan - to effect an ambush as happened?
“The Tigs and Stugs are wide apart, so I planned to kill the Tigs then turn my attention to the Stugs”

6) Was your sharpshooter operating away from his HQ? Did you manoeuvre him and did he get both the StuG and Tiger TC?
“Yes. Don't worry if snipers aren't in command, they'll still shoot”
7) Presumably you knew that the tanks on the hill had some good open LOS across the centre and had placed them there to dominate?
“They were up there simply to shoot any of your inf that dared to try to approach the flag there. And it just so happened they could see your Tigs too, so I let them have a crack”

8) The area fire into the woods was random or designed to elicit a response or because you had a spot/sound contact?
“Yes a sound contact, probably your sniper so I saturated the woods with HE in the hope of nailing him, the tanks had nothing else to do at that time anyway”

So, coming back to the present, the problem I have now is how to rescue the remaining Tiger? Fortunately it helped to redress the balance of armour somewhat by knocking out two the T34s on the hill. The question now is should I just leave it there with a potential death wish against a platoon of T34s or perhaps try and retreat it and see if I can bring him back to rejoin the main forces. Of course, there is one final option and that is to try and mount a rescue mission with the STuGs.

The STuGs and infantry are starting to advance towards the flag.



However, I seem to have a problem with this action too in that I have left the centre platoon too far back. Consequently I have not got the close level of coordination that I wanted with two platoons overwhelming the defenders supported by the STuGs. I also should be using the STuGs to blast the area but they are being pinged by ATRs and so providing a distraction. “ATR's are lethal against light armour, including against tanks with light side armour, but their slug is so small it often needs a good half-dozen penetrations to kill an armoured car. In one game a guy bought literally dozens of ATR's and killed several of my Panzer IV's with side shots, but it took dozens of pens on each tank. However, ATR's are great for forcing tanks to button up,a hit won't kill most medium/heavy tanks or their commander, but a hit will force it to button, and a buttoned tank is half blind, so ATR's are useful there… Remember, my infantry can throw grenades at 40m, so if your armour stays at least 41m from any trees where they might be lurking, they can't touch you”

Finally, I also need to consider using the infantry against the remaining T34 on the hill as that is still well located to intercept any infantry advance in the centre. Time for some more questions:
1) How should I attack with infantry in woods, the tactical article in theBlitz implies close together but my infantry forces seem incredibly brittle
“Infantry are useless and can do zilch without armoured support unless you've got a huge infantry army, then you might overwhelm by numbers alone. If enemy infantry are deep in woods and can't be hit by tank fire, the only way to root them out is to send in as many infantry as you can to get them, and hope you've sent enough to do the job.”
2) Should I try and use regular infantry to attack a tank or am I wasting my time?
“Regular or veteran, it makes little difference, infantry is very fragile regardless of quality. And it depends what you mean by 'attack'. If you mean run out into open ground to get within grenade throwing range, its risky and he might see you coming and cut you down. Far better to lurk in cover waiting for tanks to come within grenade range (40m).”

3) I do not think my STuGs are well positioned, where would you put them now?
“You've got two options - Either order them to area-fire into the woods near the flag in the hope of killing or softening up my infantry preparatory to sending your infantry in to mop up, or order the Stugs to go kill my 3xT-34s in the valley and remove that thorn from your side once and for all.. In your place I think I'd attack the T-34's with the help of the Tiger, thats 4 against 3 so the odds are with you..

4) I tried to attack your flank/rear with my AFVs, it seems that I have a) made them very vulnerable b) have no element of surprise c) limited manoeuvre given that they seem to be on the wrong side of my infantry! If you were the Axis where would you have positioned these forces?
“I'd have kept the Tigers with the Stugs to form a 6-strong steamroller to saturate the woods near the flag with area fire, then sent in my infantry to grasp the flagpole. Then I'd have moved the steamroller on to the next flag and done the same there, think 'domino effect'.
Your Tigs tried a fancy flanking move but I saw them coming and was able to position my T-34s to block them. The word 'flanking' is used too much in CM, people mistakenly think the enemy is just going to sit there and let himself be outflanked! It might work if the flanker achieves total surprise, but all too often he's spotted while on route and loses the element of surprise like we just saw.”

Well, there is plenty to think about, so, the basic plan now should be to:
1) Use infantry to knockout the T34 on the hill
2) Take the flag on the left
3) Mount a rescue mission for the Tiger